Malcolm Seaton, Grand Master, 1902

This Brother,
the son of the late William Winston Seaton, Grand Master during
the years 1821, 22, and 24, was born in Washington City,
District of Columbia, May 12, 1829. He received his education in
the private schools of the city of his birth, with the exception
of the time he was a pupil in Benjamin Hallowell's school of
Alexandria, Virginia, and a student at Captain Kingsley's
military school on the Hudson River near West Point.

In 1848 he was appointed an aid in
the United States Coast Survey, the distinguished scientist,
Prof. Alexander Dallas Bache, at that time being its
superintendent. In 1850 he resigned to accept the position of
Assistant Engineer in the Boundary Commission to run the line
between the United States and Mexico, under the treaty of
Guadaloupe Hidalgo, and served in that capacity until the last
stake was driven at the mouth of the Rio Grande in 1853, having
in the meantime worked upon the line from New Mexico to
California, returning across the country to El Paso, and thence
down through Mexico to Camargo on the Rio Grande.

In 1853 he was reappointed as
assistant in the Coast Survey, but his health failing from
exposure to the swamps in Louisiana and Texas, he accepted a
position October 26, 1860, in the clerical force of the United
States Census, which position he held until the work on the
Census was finished in July, 1866, when he was transferred to
the U. S. Patent Office, his commission bearing date August 1,
1866. In this office he advanced through the several grades of
assistant examiners, and in July, 1880, was appointed chief
clerk of the bureau, and on October 1, 1882, was promoted to the
grade of principal examiner, which position he held during the
remainder of his life.

Brother Seaton was made a Master
Mason November 7, 1867, in Columbia Lodge, No. 3, of this
jurisdiction, and on removing his residence to Georgetown,
District of Columba (now West Washington), he affiliated with
Potomac Lodge, No. 5, of that city. He was elected Senior Warden
of that lodge in 1889, and in 1890 was elected its Worshipful
Master. In 1892 he was elected Junior Grand Steward of the Grand
Lodge, and successively passed through the several chairs, and
was elected December 4 and installed December 27, 1901, as M. W.
Grand Master. This position he filled with signal ability,
dignity, and grace. He exacted a strict adherence to
constitutional provisions, the ancient landmarks, customs, and
usages, and observance of fraternal courtesies; his dignified
and courtly bearing always commanded respect and deference; his
suavity of manner made it always a pleasure to approach him and
be in his society, and his choice of language and grace of
expression always insured him an attentive audience.

Brother Seaton was also a member of
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern
Jurisdiction of the United States, in which he had taken
eighteen degrees. He was a member of Orient Lodge of Perfection,
No. 2, until it surrendered its charter in December, 1902, and
was later a member of Mithras Lodge of Perfection, No. 1, and
also of Evangelist Chapter Rose Croix, A. A. S. R., located in
the city of Washington. The latter years of his life were years
of suffering, which culminated in his death September 6, 1904,
at Marblehead, Mass., whither he had gone but a short time
before in the hope that the change might prove beneficial.